There was an episode of Friends years ago in which Chandler is trying to keep his ex, Janice, out of his life, and, rather than simply owning up to this, tells her that he will be unavailable for a long time, as his job is requiring that he travel to Yemen for an extended stay.
Things fall apart, though, when she insists on taking him to the airport and seeing him off. This was pre-9/11, so she’s able to accompany him all the way to the gate, steadfastly refusing to leave until his flight actually takes to the air. He tries to get the girl at the counter to “pretend” to give him a boarding pass and let him on the plane until Janice leaves, but it’s no good, and he ends up buying a ticket to Yemen, and, as Janice stands there watching, he says, in his Chanderly, semi-panicked way, “I’m going to Yemen,” and gets on the plane.
I’ve been saying, “I’m going to Yemen” to myself for the past few days, as, when it comes to the job offer I’ve actually received – but don’t especially want – I’ve been kind of feeling like Chandler waiting for Janice to leave so that he can bring the charade to an end when it comes to my current job situation.
I’ve been stalling the signing of the papers for the job I don’t want as long as I can in order to give the company that I do want to work for the opportunity to finally call me and make me an actual offer. But, just as Janice wouldn’t leave, they haven’t called, and so it looks like I’m going in to sign the papers on Monday morning and then starting work on Wednesday.
So that’s how I feel about the whole thing: like I’m going to Yemen.
I know that I should complain about having a job lined up when so many of my fellow ex-AOLers don’t, but it’s just that the other job, the one that I want, is so much better. Even if it paid less – which I don’t think it would – it would still be better. More interesting, actual benefits, etc.
*Sigh*
It’s just as well that I will be starting work, one way or another, as today was my last actual payday. Up next is my severance.
The good thing about the job I don’t want, though, is that the first 3-4 weeks are just training, not actual work. That way, if I finally do get the offer on the job I want, I’ll only be bailing on the training, which will make me feel marginally better about accepting a job and then saying “Screw this” when/if the better offer comes.
Of course, that’s assuming that I can bail without repercussions, as it is a contract job. I’ll be reading the paperwork very carefully, and if I find that I’m actually locked in, I’ll just turn it down on the spot and hope that the other job does come through soon (though I will have enough money to survive for a few months).
After hitting the comic shop today, Scott and I went to see The Golden Compass.
I went into it kind of ambivalent, knowing pretty much nothing about the source material, which is probably for the best as the low expectations left room for me to be pleasantly surprised.
Was it a great movie? No, but viewed as a standard CGI-driven fantasy piece, it was pretty decent. I was pleased that the girl at the center of it all was presented as being a likeable, fairly level-headed –if a bit headstrong – character who was actually clever and had none of the denseness that is so characteristic of a certain bespectacled wizard and his friends.
Most of the CGI was decent, though it sort of lacked the scope and scale of a Narnia or LOTR.
One thing that I found interesting was the sort of “connections” between some of the actors, as many of them had been in other movies together, such as Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, and Christopher Lee and Sir Ian McKellen (Who did his usual excellent job as he provided the voice of a bad-ass, armor-clad fighting polar bear. FYI – armored polar bear death matches = Teh Awesome.).
After the movie Scott looked up an actress who looked familiar but whom he could not place. Said actress was Eva Green, who had been in Casino Royale with Craig, so there was another connection.
Another thing the movie had going for it: Sam Elliott. Naturally he played pretty much the only thing he can play: an old cowboy. Honestly, what’s the point of having Sam Elliott in a movie if he’s not playing an old cowboy? It’d be like, I don’t know, not using the Internet for porn or something.
(For the record, as a non-cowboy, he was okay in Hulk, but he was far too restrained to play the part of General “Thunderbolt” Ross.)
Apparently the books were written by a staunch atheist, and were intended as something of an “anti-Narnia” set of stories. There have been a lot of complaints that the religious (or anti-religious) elements have been removed, but I can’t really speak to that, as I haven’t read the books.
Even without the anti-religious elements, though, there’s plenty for rabid fundies to get their panties in a wad about, such as magic, witches, and the “daemons” who serve as the companions to the people who live in that world.
But whatever.
Overall it was an okay, but not phenomenal, way to kill a couple of hours on a cold, dreary afternoon.
(And, once again, armored polar bear death matches = Teh Awesome, especially when they involve Sir Ian McKellen talking smack.)
